Refrigerating apparatus.



H. H. soUTHwoRTH & P, W.WOLP, lJR, RBPRIGERATING APPARATUS. APPLICATIONFILED 0011.17, 19v10. I 1,970,074. y v Patented Aug.12,1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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H. 11. soUTHWoRTH 1 11. W. WOLF, 1R. REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

, APPLICATION FILED 00T.17, 1910. 1,070,074. Patented Aug. 12,1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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REFRIGRATIN G APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.17, 1910.

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HARRISON H. SOUTHWOB'TH AND FREI) W. WOLF, JR., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,ASSIGN- ORS T0 ICELESS BEFRIGEBATOR COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACORPORA- TION OF ILLINOIS.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

iatented Aug'. 12,1913.

V application mea october 17, 1910. serial No. 587,457.

i in the county of (look and State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements m Refrigeratmg-Apparatus;

and we do hereby declare that t-he following is a full, clear, andexactdescription thereof, reference being had to' the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a,vpart of this specification.

v This invention relates to improvements in refrigeratingapparatus andparticularly to refrigerating "apparatus of the absorption type Theinvention issh'own herein as Japplied 20 to an apparatus offtheintermittent vabsorptiontype. A refrigerating apparatus of this kindincludes aV generator-absorber containing liquor which during certain`'periods of time receives and absorbs "ammonia gas delivered toitfromthe refrigerating coils,

this action contnuing'until 1t. has become substantially s, ted withvthe ammonia gas, and during said*generator. .I absorber gives oiammonia gas under, pressure Whichf'is passed through a condenser and'their delivered in liquid form to a receiv om.; the receiver the liquidammoni pansion valve beyo gas through the -r a is returned-gto During"theiirstl miillt. oratori-absorber is cooling Wateror oth means Whileduring the second a" vperiod. the genthe action of .Leidraad sadgenerator-'absorber isheated, usually by gas, so as to drive oilt'inoiiia .gas orn'the saturated or str 6r. The application of heat is'conti til substantially all the ammonia. aast liq 110:1 in. .the15111111 is. then ready'to ab he" generator-absorber mmonla gas. again.

'The apparatus necessarily includes i cooling and heat-ingmeans`fadapted to alternately cool and heatthe generator-absorber.

' means are controlled4 automatically.

vlternataer periods of time,

ver; ofi, leaving WeakA 'View of our improved apparatus.

ing the period when the generator-absorber is giving ofi ammonia gas,and-approaching the minimum during the period When thegenerator-absorber is absorbing gas. yThe maximum is reached Whensubstantially all the ammonia gas has been driven from thegenerator-absorber and the minimum is reached vwhen the liquor in thegeneratorabsorber has become substantially saturated with ammonia gasThat is to say, the maximum and 4minimum weights of liquid ammonia inthe receiver occur substantially at the periods'of time When it isnecessary to alternately apply the cooling and heating means to thegenerator-absorber. In carrying out our invention we 'make use of thisvarying weight vof the receiver and provide mechanism whereby thevariation in weight of said receiver lWill edect the control of thealternate application of the cooling and heating means to thegenerator-absorber. To this end We mount the receiver in such mannerthat it is movable vertically and connect it with a counter-balancewhich is adapted to over-balance and raise the .said receiver When theliquid ammonia contained therein has reached a minimum and which isadapted to be over-balanced by said re-v alternately cooling and heatingthe genera# tor-absorber Which is actuated by the rising and fallingmovement of the receiver.

The invention consists of the matters hereinafter described and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan Fig. 2 iS a front'elevationofthe same. Fig. 3 lis a vertical cross-section throughthe apparatus, onthe line 3--3 of Fig. 1. Fig.l 4 is a side elevation of the apparat-11s. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through thecondensing andreceiving drum. l

In thatembodiment of our invention illustrated in the drawings, 10indicates a drum constituting a generator-absorber and 11 a receivingand condensing drum. For convenience and economy We have, in the presentexample, combined the condenser and receiver in one drum, but this isnot essential and a separate condenser may be used. We shall thereforerefer to the drum 11 the receiver, since, as will appear, it is due toits function as a receiver that said4 drum is of importance intheoperation of the apparatus. Said drums may be of any usual orconvenient construction adapted for use in connection with arefrigerating apparatus, the receiver drum being the smaller drum of thetwo. They are rigidly connected at their ends 'by means of plates 12,13, the drums and plates together constituting a rocking frame which ismounted on upright standards 14, 14 located, respectively, at the frontand rear ends of said drums.

12a, 13a indicate studs projecting, respectively, from the plates 12 and13. Said studs are V-shaped in cross-section, having knife-edges`12",13b which hav-e bearing in yangular slotsl 15, 15 formed in thestandards 14, 14. The angle of the slots is greater than the frame tohave a certain amplitude of oscillation, said oscillation being limitedby the engagement of the sides of the V-shaped studs with the sides ofthe angular slots.

16 is a trough-like runway parallel tothe plane through the centralaxesof the drums 10 and 11, and rigidly connected with the frame ofwhich said drums are a part. Said runway is secured by means of hangers17 17 to the rocking frame, said hangers being shown in the drawings asbolted to the plate 12. The runway forms a track for a ball 18 and isclosed at its ends to limit the movement of said ball.

19 is a main water supply'pipe connected by a T-joint 2O to branch pipes21, 22 which in turn connect with pipes 23 and 24located -verticallyabove the drums 10 and 11 extending longitudinally of and parallel -tosaid drums. The branch pipes 2l, 22 are suitably supported on the frontstandard 14, while the rear ends of the pipes 23 and 24 are supportedbyl the rearl standard 14.

Y Both'of said pipes are vprovided with per- I ciated drum.

' valve 19a.

forations ,23% 24 on their under sides through which water is adapted tobe discharged on the top and sides ofthe asso- 25vis a'. lever whichoperates a two-way i cock in the T-joint 20 and whichv is adaptedtoshift the cooling water from the pipe 23 tothe pipe 24 and then backagain. `The main water supply is controlled by a hand 26 is a gas supplyp ipe which is connected by an elboT 27 to a plpe 28 which is in turnconnected to a ,longitudinally extending burner pipe 29 located underthe drum 1 0 and arranged parallel to said drum. Said pipe 29v isprovided with suitable burner openings 29, and the burner is adapted tobe lighted -from a pilot burner 30 fed from the main supply pipe 26.

' 26a is a hand valve which controls the gas supply.

31 is a lever which operates the cock in the elbow 26 to turn on andturn off the supply of gas for the burner 29.

32 is a trough located under the drums to receive the coolingwater afterit is: passed over the drums. The water is led from said trough by a.pipe 32a to any suitable place of disposal. The gas burner pipe 29, asshown i: said drawings, is supported on' said trough. To protect saidburner pipe from the water owing from the drum 1-0, deflecting vanesl()x 10X are secured to the bottom of said drum.

The levers 25 and`31 are provided near .their free ends, lwhich areadjacent, with slots 25, 31a. Through said slots extends a transversepin 33 to whichl are pivotally connected the ends of oppositelyextending links 34 and 35, which have their other ends suitablyconnected to arms 36 and 37 of rocking levers 36a, 37 a.. Said leversare pivotally mounted on the ends ofthe drum by means of studs 36h, 37bfixed to the ends of said drums. The lower shorter arms 36, 37c of saidlevers are provided with angular extensions which are adapted to'bestruck by the ball 18 in the operation of the apparatus as will bepresently described. 1

The'generator-absorber drum 10 is provided with a lower intake pipe 39extendin longitudinally through the drumv to a point near its forwardend and perforated within the drum to permit the escape vof .ammonia gastherein. Said pipe is connected to a pipe 40 which leads from therefrigerating coils in the usual manner and is adapted to supply theexpanded gas after it has done .its work in the refrigerator coils tothe gen- 41 isadischarge pipe connected to Athe l rear endl of thereceiver drum 11 near its bottom." Said pipe' 41 is connected. to a,pipe 42 which leads through an' expansion f valve (not shown) to therefrigerating coils in the usual manner. iSaid pipe also includes aflexible coil 42L for the same purpose as that of the coil 40a.

The drums' 10 and 11 are connected by a pipe 43 which enters each ofsaid drums near the top of the drum. A check-valve 4Gb is located in thepipe 40 topi-event the flow of liquor or ammonia gas-from the druln 10-the application of heat to its axis,

toward the refrigerating coils when the pressure in said drum rises byreason of drive the ammonia gas into the receiver 11. Check-valves 43aand 43b are located in the pipe 43 to control the liow of ammonia gasbetween the generator-absorber drum and the receiver in the usualmanner. On account o-f the greater weight lof the drum 1'0 owing to itslarger dimensions and also to the fact that it always contains water,the drum 11 is provided with equalizing weights. Said weights arcmounted on a bar which is connected lto the drum '11.

44 indicates the bar` andl45, weights secured to sai-d bar. Said weightsare provided with grooves 45*1 within which the bar vlits and are heldin place o-n the bar by set-` cock in the T-j-oint 20 is turned todirect the water into the cooling pipe 24 above the receiver drum 11 tocool said drum. Under these conditionspthe drum 10 contains strongliquor, and ammonia gas is being driven by the rheat from the burnersthrough the pipe 43 into the receiver 11 wherein it is vcon-` densedintoliquid form. As the liquid ammonia collects in the receiver drum 11-it increases the weight of said drum and causes it eventually 'tooverbalance the combined weight of the generatorfabsorber drum 10 andthe ball 18, said generator-absorber drum having in themeantime beenlosing weight owing tothe fact that ammonia gas has been drivenlfrom it.When the drum 11 'has received enough liquid ammonia to overbalance thedrum 10 and the ball 18, the frame comprising said drums is shifted onthe receiver drum 11, descending and the .generator-absorber ldrum 10`rising. This movement inclines the trough or runway 16 in the oppositedirection to that in which it is shown in the drawings, thus causing theball 18 to roll toward the ri-ght. Just as the ball 18 reaches the endof its path of travel and at the very instant that it is traveling atits highest speed, it strikes the angular end of the short arm 37 c ofthe lever 37,and rocks said lever on its stud 37",

divert the cooling water from the pipe 24 to the pipe 23. The drum 10 isnow in condition to absorb ammonia gas as it contains weak liquor and isbeing cooled by the water flowing from the pipe 23. The ammonia gasflowing from the refrigerating coils through the pipe 40 now entersthrough the pipe 39 into the drum 10 wherein it is absorbed by theV weakliquor. Liquid ammonia is discharged from the receiver 11 through thepipe 41 and the weight of liquid ammo-nia therein gradually diminishes.LThis operaf tion continues until the weight of the ref,

ceiver, together with that of the ball 18, no longer overweighs thegenerator absorber drum 10, which in the meantime has been increasing inweight due to its absorption of ammonia gas, whereupon the frame shiftson'its axis back to the position shown in the drawings; the ball 18rolls down its trough,

now inclined toward the left, and strikes the angular detent 36 of therocking lever 36?, so as to rock said lever which, through the link34,`shifts the levers 31.and v25 so as to return the cocks operated bysaid levers to the first position, with the cooling water flowing overthe receiver 11 and the gas burning under the generator-absorber drum10. The operation then continues asv before. The ball should be ofsuiicient weight to lperfo-rm its function of throwing the levers toloperate the cocks and also to nearly equal the difference between theweight of the receiver tank when it contains the minimum amount ofliquid ammonia and its weight when'it contains the maximum amount ofliquid ammonia, said difference being equal to the weight of am-moniagas driven from the generator-absorber drum lto'the receivery during theperiods when said drum is being heated. The knife-edge bearings formingthe fulcrums of the rock-ing frame are used so that the slightestmovement of the frame will put it in unstable equilibrium, where uponthe ball will roll toward the heavier drum and shift the frame in thatdirection. It will Vbe apparent that the operation of `the apparatus isentirely automat-ic and requires no 4attention Whatever ."after it hasonce been started.

The'apparatus is vof particular advantage for use in connection 'withsmall refrigerators where the employment of an attendant to give therequisite constant attention to the apparatus is not justified byeconomy.

While we have shown as a preferred embodiment of our invention anapparatus in y which the generator-absorber drum is used as'acounterbalance for the receiver drum in order to produce the necessaryrising and falling movement of said receiver drum, we do not wish to belimited to this construction as it is apparent that the apparatus may bemodified in that and in other ways and that the mechanical details ofconstruction may be changed or varied to a large eXtent Withoutdeparting from the spirit of our invention and We do not Wish to belimited thereby eXcept as pointed out in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention 1. In a refrigerating apparatus of theabsorption type, Vincluding a generator-absorber, means for alternatelycoolingand heating said generator-absorber, and a liquid ammoniareceiver fed from said generator-absorber and in which the Weight ot'liquid ammonia varies, a support for said liquid ammonia receiver, saidsupport being movable vertically, counterbalancing means adapted tooverweigh said receiver and raise it when said receiver contains theminimum Weight ofjliquid ammonia, and to be overweighed by said receiverto permit said receiver to descend When it contains a maximum Weight ofliquid ammonia, and means dependent `for its operation upon the vary-Aing Weight of the contents of the receiver in relation to the Weightfthe counterbalancing means for cont-rolling said cooling and heatingmeans.

2., In a refrigerating apparatus of the absorption type, including agenerator-absorber; means for alternately cooling and heating saidgenerator-absorber, and a liquid ammonia receiver fed from saidgenerator-absorber and in which the weight of liquid vammonia varies, arocking frame. by means of vWhich said liquid ammonia receiver issupported, counterbalancing means also supported by said rocking frame,said counter-balancing means being adapted to overvveigh Said receiverand raise it when said receiver contains a minimum Weight of liquidammonia, and to be overweighed by said receiver to permit said receiverto de-` scend when it contains a maximum Weight of liquid ammonia, andmeans actuated by said rocking frame for controlling said coo-ling andheating means.

3. In a refrigerating apparatus of the absorption type, including agenerator-absorber, means for alternately cooling and lheating saidgenerator-absorber, and `a liquid ammonia wreceiver fed from saidgenerator-absorber and in Which the Weight of liquid ammonia varies,means for supporting said liquid. ammonia receiver and saidgenerator-absorber, so as to oppose the Weight of one to that of theother, both said generator-absorber and said liquid ammonia receiverbeing movable vertically, and means dependent for its operation upon thevarying Weight of the contents of said receiver relative to the Weightof said generatorabsorber for controlling said cooling and heatingmeans.

4;. In a refrigerating apparatus of the absorption type, including agenerator-absorber, means for alternately cooling and heating saidgenerator-absorber, and a liquid ammonia receiver fed. from saidgenerator-absorber and in which the Weight of liquid ammonia varies, arocking frame, one end of which carries said liquid ammonia receiver andthe other en"d of which carries said generator-absorber, and meansactuated by said rocking frame for controlling saidl coo-ling andheating means.

5. -In a refrigerating apparatus of the absorption type, including agenerator-absorber, a pipe for discharging cooling water on saidgenerator-absorber, means for. controlling the supply of Water to saidpipe, a gas burner for heating said generatorabsorber, means forcontrolling the supply of gas thereto, and a liquid animo-nia receiverfed from said generator-absorber in which the weight of liquid ammoniavaries, a roclring frame' supporting said liquid ammonia receiver at oneend and said generatorabsorber at the other end, and mechanismintermediate said rocking frame and said Water controlling means andsaid gas controlling means for actuating them to ysupply cooling Waterto said pipe and gas to said burner in alternate cycles.r

In testimony, that We claim the foregoing as our invention We afliX oursignatures in the presence of tWo Witnesses7 this 5th day of October A.D. 1910.

HARRISON H. soUTi-iWoRTH. FRED-W. WOLF, JR.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE E. MEHLHOPE, T. H. Armeens.

